Project: Pokémon
by Deviant-Panda
Summary: This story follows the Pokémon Journey of Hazel K. Dayberry, a dispassionate 10-year-old whose parents were banking on the newest fad capturing their daughter's interest. In a world where Pokémon has been developed as recreation, what hidden dangers will demand from Hazel a new-found strength of character? The story is an AU and is rated for future themes and events.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

"Pokémon, huh?" came the slightly dulled voice from one end of the dining room table. The 10 year-old girl sat across from her parents, looking like she'd been sleeping and was recently stirred from her slumber, though admittedly, she tended to wear that face often.

"Yes, a lot of kids are getting into it. And your brothers left on a journey a few years back..." Her father spoke up encouragingly, wearing a reassuring smile. He was really hoping this new fad with the kids would finally get his daughter involved in something. She tolerated community activities, and clubs held no interest for her. Chess, dance, soccer, softball, drama - they'd all failed. But Pokémon, that was something different altogether, maybe this was the ticket.

"Sounds interesting." Hazel replied, not sounding very interested at all...

"You could make some friends - they say it's better when people travel together." the girl's mother piped up, sharing her husband's desire to engage their daughter in something constructive. It wasn't healthy to just go to school each day and come home with nothing to report, no good or bad news.

"Sounds about right." Hazel answered, eyes falling to her empty dinner plate. There was a long, rather uncomfortable pause before she took a quiet gulp and returned her gaze to the hopeful faces of her mother and father. "So what's it all about?" She asked. Her parents' eyes brightened and her mother leapt into the logistics, as she believed her daughter to be interested in such things.

"Well, you get registered-"

"At 10 years old-"

"Which you are-"

"YAY!"

"and then you pick a Pokémon partner to start with."

"And you can start with one of three types."

"M-hm, like flying, fighting or psychic."

"Ooh, fighting sounds like a contender, Hazel."

They switched off, feeding on the adrenaline brought on by Hazel's simple inquiry, which to them was a sure sign of their daughter's intent to participate in this recreational activity. Their spirits plummeted when the overwhelming wave of information threatened to make the girl's eyes glaze over. The mother chipped in with something a little less heavy:

"Honey, I think you'll really enjoy it if you'll just give it a try." At this, Hazel sighed, her shoulders rising then dropping, and she looked back at them with a restrained pout.

"Mom, that's what you said about softball, soccer, chess, drama, karate... and Girl Scouts."

"I thought Girl Scouts was going well." The mother said, almost to herself with a bit of a disappointed look. The father looked worried at his wife a moment then turned to Hazel, mirroring his daughter's expression of imploring appeal.

"I think this'll be different, Hazel. Maybe you just need more STIMULATION." He emphasized the last word, trying to end it on a positive note.

Hazel stared from her parents to the table and back, took a deep breath and let it go, sighing quietly. "Okay, I'll give it a shot."

"Atta Girl!" Her father replied with a grin as her mother squeaked with delight.

"I really think you'll like this, Hazel." Her mother added, aglow with happiness.

The following week, Hazel went with her parents to the local Pokémon Registration Center, read and signed all the papers and sat through Orientation...

"Hazel Dayberry." a voice called out over the intercom. Hazel snapped out of her daze at the sound of her name, and looking awkwardly back at her parents who remained seated, followed a woman through a doorway and down a few hallways.

"It's like a hospital." Hazel mumbled to herself blandly, walking almost blindly until they stopped at a large room lined with shelves, each shelf containing numerous red and white spheres. Remembering orientation, she realized these were what were called Pokéballs. _They're a lot smaller than I thought they'd be..._ At the end of the room was a table with 3 Pokéballs in particular lined up.

"These are the three Pokémon available for new trainers today."

_That sounded sterile. What a creepy lady..._ Hazel thought to herself before letting her eyes fall on the three Pokéballs. There were labels in front of each one, but randomly she chose the one on the far right. She looked at the placard in front of it, and read its name out loud. "Baltoy. Psychic... I guess I'll go with this one." At this point, Hazel was rethinking the whole Pokémon thing 15 minutes ago. She learned at orientation that Pokémon were living things and the ones she owned would have to be cared for - and she'd have to travel. This was a long haul and she wasn't sure she wanted it. But her parents were likely to have a psychotic break if she backed out this far in, so it was a little late to change her mind.

"Alrighty, there we go." The woman said with a smile. "Congratulations, you are almost set to go on your Pokémon Journey."

"I can hardly wait." Hazel answered with a suppressed whine, eyeing the Pokéball nervously.

"Why don't you get acquainted with Baltoy, while I finalize your registration and get you your I.D. and Travel Pass?"

"...sure..." she said awkwardly, then walked back to the waiting room where her parents stood smiling, eager to see the partner she had chosen. She smiled meekly at them before her eyes returned to the strange object. Whistling as though calling a dog, she said "come on out - Baltoy." Her calm frown deepened instantly as a bright red light formed in front of the sphere in her hand, and blinking away the shock, she looked to see... well, it was difficult to describe. It had a large oval-shaped head with eyes like old Asian statues she'd seen in art class, and a small body with a red stripe broken up by a ring of the same color. The strange creature had long plank-like fingerless arms. On the bottom of its body was a wierd top-like diamond shape, and there was also the conical horn on its head to consider. All in all, it looked perfectly alien, and Hazel was at a complete loss for words. Numbly, she looked back at the Pokéball noticing a distinct difference in size between the 1 foot tall object and the 2 inch tall ball in her hand. For lack of anything else to say, she muttered "huh... I wonder how it fits in this thing..."

"Amazing isn't it Hazel?" The father said, beaming between his daughter and the albeit, non-contender looking Pokémon she had chosen.

"It's pretty unusual Dad..." There was a pause in which she stared right through Baltoy, eyes widening as she was struck with a sudden epiphany. "Wait a minute!" Her parents were shocked at the sudden energy their daughter was expressing. "I'm gonna be away from home! I'm gonna miss you guys!" She called out as though they were 20 feet away, eyes wide with fear.

"Don't worry, Honey, there's all kinds of WiFi spots so you can email and televideo us anytime." Her Dad offered, grinning and relieved that it wasn't something truly horrendous that his daughter was worried about.

"Huh?" Hazel muttered confused, unable to comprehend how this made anything better.

"How do you think I stayed sane all this time your brothers have been away?" Her mother continued. "We chat with them every morning while you're at school, dear." Hazel moaned despairingly, this wasn't helping at all. Suddenly, Baltoy started wailing loudly, long flat arms wrapped around Hazel's neck.

"Oh my God, what is it doing?" Hazel asked, horrified. At this point, the lady was back with I.D. and Travel Pass in hand.

"Oh, Baltoy congregate and cry noisily when they meet others of their own kind." The woman offered cheerfully. Apparently, she thought this was a good sign.

"Oh, isn't that sweet Honey? When you whined, it started crying too! Oh you're two peas in a pod!"

Hazel whined again while Baltoy continued to wail.


	2. Chapter 2

Project: Pokémon Chapter 2:

It has been nearly a month since Hazel began her Pokémon Journey. Over the past few weeks, she slowly became more accustomed to her partner Baltoy who she had nicknamed "Benji", as the Project Pokémon Establishment mandated that Pokémon be given names as an additional method of distinguishing them in the international database. Only in the past week however, had she even considered training it in battle. She had flipped half-heartedly through the manual she was given that offered guidelines for training Pokémon for various recreational fields such as battle and presentation competitions. She certainly didn't think of herself as a performer, and so reluctantly turned to the concept of battle. After the first couple weeks of traveling from town to town, using the funded travel pass for a meal every so often and eyeing various wilderness enclosures with minimal suspicion, she now awkwardly approached an enclosure hosted in the heart of Missouri.

"... I don't know about this..." Hazel muttered with a pained look on her face as she looked at the open grassland set up for Pokémon inhabitation. It was dotted with shallow slopes covered thickly with grass being grazed on by an assortment of creatures she presumed to be Pokémon. "Where do I start? Geez..." This time, instead of opening her handbook, she consulted the Pokédex she had been given on the first day. She half-sighed, half-snorted in disapproval as she thought about it... Poké-everything... and "dex". Really? They couldn't think of a more realistic name for the device? Granted it was inspired by an outrageously successful franchise, but in Hazel's opinion, there were a few more things they could stand to change. Though, to the defense of the team of people who made them, these Pokédexes went a lot farther than simply relaying general information about wild Pokémon. Her thumbs tapped anxiously at the QWERTY board, typing in her question. She then deleted "where do I start?" and typed in the more comprehensive "what's a good wild Pokémon to start fighting when training a new Pokémon?" It picked out the keywords, offering her various articles from the PRA database. She finally settled on the topic "Good First Battle Candidates For New Trainers". It brought up Pidgey and Rattata first and foremost with images and general information and links to main articles for each of them. She scanned the landscape. There didn't seem to be any around here. She heaved a sigh, stuffing her Pokédex back in her left jean pocket, the other hand reaching a bit higher into a rightmost of six compartmentalized pockets with the number 1 stitched into the top left corner of the flap, closing her fingers anxiously around the occupied Pokéball.

"Well, Benji, I don't think this'll be much fun..." she mumbled as she started forward, watching a sleeping bull-like thing warily as she slowed her step, as if afraid to wake it. Those horns didn't look like they were for show. And there were others too, dozens of them, most of them awake and watching her with equal focus. "I'm from a suburb in Columbus, for crying out loud..." Hazel whined, "I don't deal with normal cows..." She then flinched as she heard a click that had become all too familiar over the past few weeks. She whipped the offending Pokéball out of her pocket, holding it closed for all she was worth. Benji had gotten into the troublesome habit of jumping unbidden from its Pokéball, and as far as Hazel was concerned, this was no time for sudden movements. She looked about, wild-eyed a moment before finally calming down as the Tauros seemed to stare a second longer, then as if bored of her, returned to grazing. She whimpered slightly in relief, palms still clamped around the edges of the sphere and continued cautiously forward. There was a muffled squeak of surprise and she nearly jumped back as there was a loud flapping sound and a concealed Pidgey flew out of the tall grass in front of her.

"Uh, hey wait." She half shouted, stumbling forward to try and pursue the bird Pokémon, only to find herself tripping over all manner of small Pokémon hiding in the grass. They all scattered. "Wow... good news Benji: they're not attacking at us. Bad news: They're not attacking us because they're gone..." She said quietly as her eyes roved the landscape once more. She could just as easily have been walking in a field of giant jumping beans. She worked her way over to a clearing and spared another glance around. "Okay... Benji, you can come on out now." The strange top-like thing emerged in its usual flash of bright light, though thankfully the effect minimized by the already shining outdoor sun. It looked wordlessly around, turning finally to look up at Hazel, its closed yet expressive eyes speaking volumes, but mostly of bemusement.

"I'm waiting, okay?" Hazel answered the unasked question, shrugging her shoulders helplessly. "Um, well, let's take some time to study a bit more..." She mumbled opening the Pokédex once more and typing in Baltoy for more information while the Pokémon in question hovered up to her shoulders and wrapped its arms around her head. She grimaced slightly, but ignored the unwanted gesture, as the creature didn't seem to realize that she didn't like it, even after so many times being removed. "It says here you know one move right now, and that's Confusion. Confusion... doesn't seem very effective... 'The target is hit by a weak telekinetic force. It may also leave the target confused.'..." Her attention was stolen from the little encyclopedia by a rustling of grass. She looked to her right, Baltoy doing the same, and their eyes fell on a purple-tinted grey rodent with generously built whiskers and a tail that seemed to curl naturally upon itself. "That's a Rattata..." she thought out loud then glanced between Baltoy and the strange new animal.

Except now that she looked back to where the animal was, it had disappeared. She couldn't conceal the squeal of distress as she felt a light clawing at her back. The Rattata had scurried up to her, leapt onto her back and had started to tear into her backpack.

"Nnnngh, Benji do something." She gritted out the words through clenched teeth at the spine chilling sound of the plastic lining being pierced and small expert claws dragging down through the material. Benji hovered about frantically, wondering what this thing was doing to its trainer. "I don't know! C-c-c-confusion!" Benji's eyes snapped up to meet Hazel's, as if the word had brought everything into focus, and it swung wide around behind the girl to face the rat-based Pokémon now beginning to actively sift through the pack's contents. Suddenly, after a moment's silence, the creature was sent flying off of her back, though it took a few threads of the backpack with it when its claws snagged. It landed in the grass about 20 feet away, scampering off with a disgruntled chittering.

Hazel heaved a sigh, bringing her backpack in front of her to examine the damage mournfully. She managed a modest smile of relief as Baltoy swept up from the ground to land on the backpack. "Good job, Benji." Though the Baltoy tilted its head apparently puzzled; the words didn't carry nearly as much as the tone did, as the girl's voice was somewhere between laughing, and on the brink of crying. She took a deep breath, blinking away the beginning of tears. "Well that was embarrassing," she said in a high-pitched voice. A ruined backpack and humiliation at the hands of a rat, with an audience of albeit speechless animals. Baltoy started a long wail, which elicited an exasperated twitch of the girl's eyebrow. "Don't. Please, just don't." She said shortly, the disappointment gone, and replaced by emotional exhaustion and slight irritability. Baltoy hopped off, humming quietly as it hovered in rotating circles. Somehow, an annoyed Hazel was preferable to a sad Hazel. A few dozen encounters, but no real battles later, they reached the end of the trail on the other side of the enclosure. A bus stop was just a half a mile way, so she hurried, hoping she'd catch a ride to the next town. She got there with 15 minutes to spare and laid down on the bench.

Dinner in the nearest city was quiet, and as she ate the cheap diner meal in peace, she chanced a glance around. There seemed to be other young people like her, on their own or with friends, but she could see some tell-tale signs of other Pokémon trainers. Of course, they all looked quite a bit more confident than her... probably more established too. "Probably best if we just stay invisible Benji." She said under her breath to the creature still inside its Pokéball, and moving her backpack from the booth seat to her right down to the ground, so as to avoid questions of why it was torn wide open. A few sighs and a half-hour after that, she finished her meal, gathering up the various parts of her backpack, some planes of cloth holding on by a thread, and made her way to the exit. It was then, there at the door, that she had the feeling she was being watched. Uncomfortably, after seeing no one around her that seemed to be paying any attention, she headed out the front door and started the little trek back to the nearest bus stop. But now watching her through a facade based window was a young man, not much older than her, with tan skin and black wavy hair combed back. Dark eyes followed her steps with nearly blank curiosity, and the lips formed into a sort of pitying smile.

10 days later found Hazel in the state of Oklahoma. She and Baltoy had been in a few battles, and mostly fled from a number of Pokémon that they thought they could handle until it opened a fang-lined mouth, or stepped out into the open with some other frightening implement of predation. Baltoy had managed to learn one new attack: Harden, which had proved useful when a wild Fearow attempted to crack Baltoy in two with its beak. Hazel would never admit to her parents the panicked repeated shriek of "HARDEN! HARDEN! HARDEN!" when the large vulturine bird carried her partner off to a nest. It took her an hour to climb the steep ridge and timidly snatch back her Pokémon, being chased all the way to the bus stop. That was one enclosure that, if she had her way, she'd never set foot in again. Of course, when her parents asked how her day went, the answer was a prompt and natural. "Oh, fine. You know, the usual." The parents traded worried looks as their daughter plucked a couple twigs out of her jacket and forced a weak smile.

She pressed on, determined that she would last at least a month, then she could say it lasted longer than her time with the Girl Scouts. She had at least found that Benji was becoming quite tolerable company, kind of pleasant even. Even if this training thing didn't work out, at least she had someone to talk to. After all, it never argued with her. Another brisk night in Oklahoma was spent on Route OK-152, and if nothing else, she had the light of a full moon to walk by. She normally stopped in a hotel at night (thank goodness for the all-mighty travel pass), but she was determined to get out of the state or at least on a bus out of the state before the night was through. She was a mere 30 miles from the border. Bad idea. She decided well before midnight that she didn't like the wilderness enclosure at night. "Shouldn't Pokémon be asleep by now." Hazel whimpered, looking around nervously at the imagined sources of night noises, "I'd be asleep by now." Benji was out of its Pokéball, arms wrapped tightly around her neck as their heads both lolled in opposite directions watching their surroundings, swallowed in darkness though they were.

Suddenly there was a sound she wasn't expecting. The somewhat loud and hasty closing of a door. Her eyes darted to the right to see a cabin about a hundred yards away and a figure approaching them, clearly bipedal, likely human. She watched in growing terror as the person neared them, proving to be a towering and intimidating figure, and she thought she saw glinting metal upon its face and head. By the time she could make out the features, the person was right on top of her, wide ivory eyes shining out of the shadows on its face.

"Hey now, Oklahoma law states that minors under of the age of 14 are prohibited from walking the trails between dusk and dawn." The voice was a bit deep, but friendly sounding and laid-back. "You look suspiciously younger than 14." The person continued as a grin broke out on his face. "I guess you'll have to stay in the PRG cabin with me 'til morning." He finished, turning as he swept his arm and hand in a beckoning gesture, at which point Hazel tentatively followed him.

As they entered the lit cottage-like building, she could make out the appearance of this stranger. It was a young man, late teens, with dark brown skin, even darker brown dreads, layered green shirts and brown cargo shorts. His eyes were easily the most striking feature, mostly white with black slits for pupils. She gulped, thinking they must be contacts, and chose instead to focus on his odd headgear. He had a pair of strangely shaped headphones, almost like green and purple bat-wings, but... After sizing up the stranger, she decided she'd best size up her surroundings as well. Examining the inside of the cabin, she noted a modestly lit lobby type room, with a small hall leading to a bathroom and what may have been another room still. There was a warm crackling fire alight in the fireplace, and right in front of it a... a...

"What's that?" Hazel asked numbly. To this, the man looked down so as to follow her gaze.

"Oh, that's Kaiza, my Typhlosion. Don't worry, guy's like a big teddy bear." At this point, Hazel wasn't listening though, she was noticing a number of other creatures, certainly Pokémon scattered about the room. A medium-sized blonde-furred dog perched on the back of an armchair, a lanky reptilian-like creature with a rather bony looking head draped across the front of said armchair, an [ugh] Fearow perched in the corner - and a HUGE moth in meatloaf position pressed flat against the wall to her left. And all asleep apparently.

"Are these all your Pokémon?" She asked, looking a little uncomfortable. What if they were disagreeable rescues kept here so as not to bother trainers?

"They sure are. That's Knave," he said pointing to the canine Pokémon, "and Nova", he continued, pointing to the spindly creature, "and Lint" he said, gesturing vaguely to the large bird, which had woken up and offered a raspy hissing snort in their direction, "what a punk," the man chuckled, "and that's Tobias." he added pointed to the insect, "and - why don't you put up your coat, it's warm enough in here, right?" he offered, gesturing to a very decorative looking coat rack back by the door. Hazel took a few short strides over to it, unzipping the coat before tugging off the arms and started to put it up, yelping when what she thought were bulbous hooks on the rack reached out and took the coat out of her hands.

"BALMORHEA!" The coat rack called out, wiggling in a sort of duck-and-weave dance routine. It was rewarded with a scream which had all sleeping Pokémon present with the fur ruffled or skin pulled tight in tension. The young man laughed heartily, clapping a hand down on Hazel's shoulder.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist. Meet Balmorhea, my Sudowoodo." He stopped laughing long enough to straighten up and say "and my name is OW!" Hazel had stomped on his foot with a deep pout on her face and brows furrowed in disbelief.

"That wasn't funny!" She shouted, but all the other Pokémon started to settle down all the same.

"Okay, it wasn't funny." The man formed a nervous smile as he stifled the pain now radiating from his right foot. "My name is Varus by the way, I'm a PRG, that's Pokémon Route Guide." He added, straightening out his vest and trying to look professional and composed.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note:

In this chapter, Benji the Baltoy talks for the first time. Synthetic Pokémon in this AU can talk in human tongue if the ability to do so is coded into their programming. Any questions feel free to ask

Aside from an intimidating and eventful evening, Hazel thought she was handling things quite well. The PRG known as Varus offered her his bed and stayed in the lobby for the remainder of the night. She woke up to the reptilian like Pokémon with the skeletal head staring at her with wide red eyes from the foot of the bed. That was the end of her stay, which was marked with a distinct shrilly offer to let herself out.

"Okay, then. Be safe, now." The young man called out as he waved from the cabin.

Not two minutes after she left the PRG's line of sight, she stopped, for there in the middle of the path was a large rodent-like Pokémon, colored blonde and brown, that could best be likened to a tapir. It seemed content to remain there, so Hazel pulled out her Pokédex and held it up. As it scanned the creature, an article on what it was popped up and she read aloud, with Benji peeking curiously over her shoulder.

"Drowzee, the hypnosis Pokémon... psychic type, yup, that's it alright. What do you think, Benji?" She asked, looking over her right shoulder to where it had hovered back a ways. This was their first time encountering another psychic-type Pokémon. "Think we can hack it?" She looked back at the animal to find that its eyes which had been closed before were now open, and it seemed to sport the smallest of smiles. Hazel didn't care much for that, and with a raised eyebrow returned her gaze to her partner. It straightened up and seemed to puff up a bit, spinning in a curved path to place itself firmly between Hazel and the stranger. It was then that something occurred to Hazel; she had recently purchased a few of those Pokéballs, yet hadn't attempted to catch any Pokémon. "Benji..." she started, waiting for it to look back, "we're going to give capturing Pokémon a try. So let's not knock it out, okay? I... I think that's a rule..." Benji stared blankly back at the girl with a look that on any human's face would translate to: 'Wow. You really have no idea what you're doing, do you?' Hazel's face slackened into an incredulous and defensive expression, her left eye twitching once or twice. "D-Don't give me that look! I'm pretty sure that's how it goes." The Baltoy turned with its head lolling to the side in an exasperated manner back to a now thoroughly amused-looking Drowzee. "Alright, Benji, start with Confusion, okay?"

The little top shook off the embarrassing Trainer-Pokémon moment and fixed a determined "glare" on its opponent who had now settled into a position poised for attack. Yet before Benji could focus its attack, it was sent hurtling backward into Hazel. She barely had time to shriek in surprise before her partner landed in the crook of her neck. She stifled the whine of pain as the impact resulted in her biting her own tongue, and allowed the pain to be channeled into anger as a sort of twisted snickering could be heard from the enemy Drowzee. A dazed Benji jolted out of Hazel's arms where it had ultimately landed and zoomed angrily toward its opponent - only to be struck unmercifully to the ground under one of its forepaws. Gathering her senses, Hazel finally called out a command: "Benji, Harden!" It responded immediately, but woefully, the move Harden doesn't stop one from being batted around like a cat toy, it just makes it slightly more bearable. "Benji, time to use that move we've been practicing. Start with Confusion."

Benji answered with a look, turning back to the Drowzee who was rearing back for another barrage of Pound attacks and threw the assailant away. "Now Benji, Rapid Spin!" It righted itself, charging once again. It accelerated, spinning faster and faster as it dashed forward, head first. Hazel could have cried, their practice was actually paying off... Hazel could have cried, Baltoy missed by a hair as the tapir-like animal leapt out of the way, and her partner spun out, flailing to try and get out of the bushes. "Uhhhh..." she moaned, clapping a hand over her face, and it didn't help that the Drowzee continued to snicker. Apparently they were doing this creature a service, providing morning exercise and entertainment. "Okay, Benji, let's not try that again," her look of humiliation gave way to spite as she turned back to the wild Pokémon, "but we are not _clowns_, and it's time to show this Drowzee that we mean business."

The Pokémon in question looked up at the pair, its smile gone. "Confusion again, Benji." Benji pulled itself out of the bushes and turned to face its opponent when it suddenly went stiff. Hazel was confused - until she noticed that the Drowzee had pulled itself up into a crouched position on two legs, its forelimbs held out toward Baltoy. It didn't take much longer for Hazel to deduce that her Pokémon had somehow been paralyzed by one of Drowzee's psychic-type moves. "Benji? You don't need to move to use Confusion, right? Come on, Benji..." she called out anxiously as the Drowzee closed in on her partner. The Baltoy made a creaking sound as it visibly attempted to break free of the enemy's hold. "Maybe you do...?" She thought out loud. "Benji, you have to snap out of it..." She continued, the alarm in her voice growing as the enemy drew nearer, pulling back a forepaw. She closed her eyes, unable to watch, but jumped at a loud thud. When she looked, Baltoy remained where it stood, and the wild Drowzee had been tossed into a tree. It hardly had time to get back on its feet before it was hurled into the air, and was falling rapidly back down to the ground. Baltoy swept it aside at the last second, sending it tumbling down the path over a hill. Benji pursued, much to Hazel's surprise, whirring furiously as it spun violently in circles around the opponent. Aforementioned Drowzee remained on the ground, glaring spitefully up at the top though it seemed to have reached its limit.

"Okay... thank you, Benji..." Hazel said awkwardly as she reached the bottom of the hill. "But, I think it's over..." she finished, pulling out one of her Pokéballs. "Now, do I actually thro-"

"NO, HAZEL! THIS IS A BAD IDEA!" The voice completely caught her off guard, even pitched, but slightly shrill in texture. She looked down in disbelief:

"Bennnnnji?" She drew out the word, wondering if she heard those words from the direction she thought she heard them from.

"Yes, Hazel. And this Drowzee is ubad news/u. We need to move on, this is one Pokémon you DON'T want."

"You're talking?" Hazel asked, still trying to wrap her mind around it.

"Yes, I'm talking! Now let's go."

"Benji, I'm... surprised that you can talk and all, but I don't think we should just walk away. We got this. We did it." Hazel said, trying to put on her stern face, but instead it came out looking apologetic.

"...bad idea..." the Baltoy mumbled, turning away and seeming to glare out of the corner of its eye at the Drowzee. With a hint of guilt, Hazel lightly tossed the Pokéball, which halted in the air a few inches away from the defeated Pokémon, and she watched in mild awe as the creature transformed into light and vanished into the ball. It landed lifelessly on the ground, it was somewhat anti-climactic actually. She picked it up, and prepared her best mothering voice.

"Alright, Drowzee, you need a name and your name will beeeee... Dover." She said after a moment's consideration. She carried on, doubling the authority she injected into her voice. "You're part of the team now, so I hope you learn to like it." She said with a firm nod. "And whatever you did to upset Benji, I don't wanna hear about you doing it again." She looked to Benji as if to ask "How was that?", but it radiated disappointment all the same.

3 days later, she had left Oklahoma behind her, and was entering the Palo Duro Canyon in Texas.

"We'd better stop at the PRG station first. Get some rest." Hazel said wearily. On Benji's recommendation, she had stayed awake almost the whole 3 days since they caught Drowzee. Nearly every time she fell asleep, she'd jolt awake upon feeling Baltoy's ribbon-like arms squeezing her head lightly, and its voice telling her to wake up. "Why can't I sleep again?" she whined, looking miserably over at the Baltoy.

"Because he'll eat your dreams..." Benji replied ominously. "If you had left him behind, this wouldn't be an issue." Hazel scowled at the I-told-you-so tone in the Pokémon's voice.

"Then he can have my dreams, I need sleep." Hazel called out irritably as they passed through the station door. "Besides, why would he do something to hurt me when he's _my_ Pokémon?"

"This isn't like the game, Hazel. Pokémon don't become blindly loyal to you simply because you caught them. Pokémon have personalities, temperaments, wills of their own. They are not so easily controlled." Benji answered warningly. Meanwhile, they'd made their way over to a bench where Hazel sat down and curled up, exhausted.

"So what do I do, wrap up his Pokéball with industrial-strength zip ties to keep him from popping out and eating me in my sleep?"

"He'll eat your dreams, not you... and locking him up is a start..." Benji answered matter-of-factly.

"Is this because he's another psychic-type? You never had this problem with any other wild Pokémon. I think you're just being jealous..."

"Jealous? Of HIM? That greedy, overconfident, insufferable-" Benji froze, deflating itself as it realized it had been rising angrily higher into the air and raising its voice, and realized that they were getting odd looks from the handful of other people occupying the station. "He's no good, Hazel, and I am wounded that you would brand me with an emotion as contemptuous and vain as jealousy when I am simply trying to protect you from a dangerous... stranger."

"Hm... my hero..." the girl mumbled dismissively, her eyes wandering away from the Baltoy.

"Fine, Hazel, don't listen to me. But let me say that there is something profoundly sinister and malicious about eating another's dreams..." Benji finished before tapping the Pokéball in her jacket pocket #1 and disappearing into the sphere with a dull flash of light. Hazel looked up, frowning uncomfortably at the looks she was getting from the other visitors.

"Heheh... psychic-types..." Hazel offered sheepishly, withering under the quizzical gazes of the station staff and other trainers. _Who needs parents when you have Pokémon like Benji_?She thought to herself, just slightly embarrassed by the spectacle they had made of themselves. _Speaking of parents, I should give mine a call. I haven't checked in in a couple days..._ she couldn't hold back the yawn that surfaced that moment. _though I could always call them after a nap._

_Hazel found herself at home when she opened her eyes. She was sleeping on the couch it seemed, and when she got up, stretching and yawning, she walked into the kitchen, since she could usually depend on finding one of her parents there. Both were sitting at the table with beaming smiles, and Hazel found this a welcome sight. For the first time in months, she walked up to them, getting a real hug, and as they spent hours catching up, she seemed to notice that everything was gradually blurring out of focus. Without warning, the wall behind her parents vanished, and quickly, so went her mother and father. Everything was being lost in blackness, save for occasional flashes of yellow and... brown? Then, when everything else was gone, there stood Dover, pulled up into his crouching position and with a satisfied look on his face. Hazel looked on in horror as he licked his lips under the long trunk, his little eyes widening excitedly._

Hazel yelped slightly as she jerked into a curling position there on the station bench - it was only a dream. She looked up to see a station clerk, a young woman, who had shook her shoulder slightly to wake her. "Sorry young lady, but you looked troubled, and... well, even if you weren't, I thought you should know that you've been asleep for the past 6 hours. I don't know if you had anything planned..."

"Oh, no, just calling my parents before nightfall."

"Ah, I see." the clerk replied before disappearing into a room behind the counter.

As the thought occurred to Hazel she frantically checked her pocket #2 and looked around. Dover was still inside his Pokéball. She pulled the ball out shakily, looking at it in the dim light of sunset.

"You wouldn't really do that, would you Dover?" she asked quietly. There was no answer of course, so Hazel resignedly put the ball back into her pocket and stood up, swaying slightly to make her way over to the computer to call her parents.

"Hey, Dad." Hazel offered, smiling tiredly. There was a friendly face.

"Hey, honey, how goes the training?" He asked, trying to sound cheerful, though it was obvious to anyone looking that Hazel seemed worn out and not particularly happy.

"Well, I made it to Texas and caught my second Pokémon. It's a Drowzee." Hazel answered.

"Ah, sounds great!" Her father did seem excited at the progress.

"Yeah, but Benji doesn't like him at all."

"Ouch, that's not so great." came the deflated reply.

"Benji and I are still working on that third move... it can do it, we're just having trouble aiming... and hitting moving targets isn't easy. Benji can't really turn when spinning like that..."

"Well, I don't raise Pokémon, but if they're like other animals, training takes time and practice. Keep it up, you two will get it."

"Yeah, I know. Maybe after a good night's sleep we can really work more on that."

"That's my girl. Speaking of sleep it's past 10 o'clock here at home." Her father added with a nervous laugh.

"Oh, yeah... we should both get to bed then, huh?"

"Yeah, I work an early shift tomorrow." He said with a smile, and his smile widened as a hand fell on his shoulder and Hazel waved sleepily at her mother.

"We're glad you're doing okay. I was getting a little worried when you didn't call yesterday."

"Yeah, it was a long day Mom, sorry about that."

"Looks like you've had another long day." Her mother countered, eyebrows tapering in spite of the warm smile.

The next morning, Hazel woke up from her sleeping spot on the bench. She stretched the stiffness out of her back and legs, greeting a very tired looking clerk from the night before.

"Morning." She said with her last stretch. Then a troubling thought slipped into her mind. "You haven't been awake all night, have you?"

"Couldn't close up with you still here." The young woman mumbled, blinking away the dazed expression from a moment ago. She smiled sleepily at Hazel's panicked expression. "Don't worry, kid, I didn't have it in me to kick you out on the front porch. You looked like me after a bad Monday." she said with a chuckle. "So, you familiar with Texas Park Law?"

"No, not really..." Hazel answered, still feeling a little guilty.

"Well, you just stick to standard rules for the most part, Pokémon and Pokéballs only, no ropes, no cages, no extra tools. You can walk the park at night, but on account of some venomous and nocturnal Pokémon, it's not really recommended."

"Alright, sounds good." Hazel replied gratefully. "I should get going," she added, remembering her conversation with her parents last night. "My Pokémon and I have a lot of work to do."

"Remember to stay on the trails, okay?" The lady called out after the girl.

"Sure thing." The trainer called back, though she was already at a jog out to the main trail headed into the heart of the enclosure.

Hazel and Baltoy agreed to make up for lost time, and the day was filled with practice. Time after time, they rehearsed the move, picking target areas and trying to curve. Time after time, Baltoy spun out, collapsing in a frazzled little heap. Hazel had offered Dover a chance to stay outside the Pokéball, but it apparently declined, and at about noon, Hazel knew exactly why. It was hot out there. The summer heat didn't seem to bother Baltoy, which was fine considering it was doing most of the work, but Hazel couldn't help but think at what point she would need to stop, to get out from under the open sun if nothing else. And to complicate things, their practice had taken them deep into the enclosure, well over a mile or two, meaning that it would be a long walk back to the station. The girl turned back to look at how long the trail seemed, as opposed to how long it would be, only when she looked, she didn't see a trail.

"Oh no." Hazel thought out loud. "Benji, where's the trail?" They both looked around anxiously, they were surrounded by tall cliffs, and not a distinguishing feature could be picked out. "This would have been a lot easier if we'd kept a lookout for landmarks..." Hazel whimpered, as that sweltering heat beating down on them showed no signs of letting up. "Come on, Benji, I think it was this way."

"Oh dear." was all Benji had to say to such words.

On a positive note, the night was cooler, well, actually, it was just cold - but the cold proved far more bearable than the heat of the day. And the morning was pleasantly crisp. On a negative note, Hazel took notice of all this because she was still lost and it was getting warmer.

"Benji, how can we still be lost in an eight square mile park after a full night and day?" she asked, dragging her feet

"Maybe we're going in circles...?" Benji suggested, guiltily hovering at her side.

A few hours more of walking, and all talk had been silenced. Hazel was starting to become afraid. No amount of sleep could erase the fact that she was lost in the elements, losing energy, and hadn't seen so much as a call box. And yet small boulders were beginning to look like rather comfortable pillows.

"Hazel... Hazel, don't lay down out here in the sun..." Benji commented as she slowly lowered herself to the ground in a sitting position before leaning over and curling on her side. Benji was dismayed to see her pulling her hood over her face.

"I'm tired Benji, and I don't see any shade. Here's as good a place as any. A little sleep and we can start searching again. Better yet, someone might find us if we just stay still..." Hazel mumbled, her voice trailing off.

"Oh, this isn't good." Benji thought out loud, looking around. "I should go find help. Wait! That would mean leaving Hazel alone with that-urk-Dover." It swung back and forth between going for help and staying at Hazel's side, when the offended Drowzee took the liberty of releasing himself from his Pokéball.

_"Fine then, let me go get help." _The tapir-like Pokémon suggested, though he had a disdainful look on his face, not at all pleased with the Baltoy.

"...very well..." Benji answered in a strained manner. It watched uncertainly as the Drowzee ambled off to the left toward a cliff. When he reached the base of the structure, he looked side to side, picked a direction and continued to walk rather slowly, which irked the top to no end. "Well, worst case scenario, he won't come back, which in a way isn't so bad..." Benji mused, looking worriedly down at its trainer.

When Hazel awoke, she was somewhere dim and cool, though the ground was still hard and uneven. She thought she could hear mumbling, and felt something shift uneasily against her one of her legs and arms. She sat up and saw Dover at her feet, and Benji settled close to her chest. She looked up to see a figure with its back to her, though behind it there glowed a fire, and beyond the fire laid something massive and furry by the looks of it.

"You are a very lucky girl, yes you are." were the first words she could understand, and she definitely picked up on a distinct Russian accent, though by the pitch, she couldn't determine whether it was a boy or a girl. The person turned toward her holding a bowl. "Chili? It came from a can, yes, but it is good for what it is... much like your little friend." Hazel's face twisted into a confused, but slightly put off expression that made the stranger laugh. "I'm joking... your Pokémon are very sweet, very worried about you." The person added, holding out the bowl further like a peace offering, and Hazel eventually took it, though she kept glancing between her bowl and the stranger. "Ah, so rude of me, my name is Sacha. What is yours? And what were you doing so far from the path?" she continued as she took a bowl for herself, and had a pile of hay set aside for the large animal, though it seemed to be asleep. "Oh, Borya and Anya ate earlier today, so I doubt they want anything right now, but what of your Drowzee?" Drowzee looked at Sacha for a moment before turning away, and planting his face in Hazel's shin. "Haha, okay, you're not hungry now." _Okay, Sasha, girl's name... this is a girl..._ Hazel thought to herself.

"Um... my name's Hazel, and I... got lost."

"Eh, it happens. Like I said though, you are very lucky that your Drowzee cares so much about you. Took me to you when he found me."

"Huh, thanks Dover..." Hazel said, smiling slightly at the Pokémon at her feet, only to watch him sniff and shrug his shoulders.

"Haha, Dover, a nice name for a nice Pokémon." the other girl declared with a laugh. "And your Baltoy, Benji, he has already introduced himself. You all... strike me as good and friendly. Hazel, friend, this is Kliment," she continued, gesturing gently to the large creature beyond the campfire, "and in the morning, you can meet Borya and Anya. I have some water if you want any."

"Thank you..." Hazel answered numbly, taking the bottle. "Where are we anyway?"

"In one of the smaller caves in the canyon. We... probably shouldn't be camping out in caves, but goodness, when one is so deep in the park, and it is so hot, where would any sensible trainer be going?"

The next morning, Hazel met the very tall, but if only in an odd way, gentlemanly Blaziken named Boryenka, or Borya for shot, and Anoushka or Anya, an Arcanine. After a simple breakfast, and a better look at Kliment, a Camerupt, the trainer named Sacha led Hazel to the north entrance to the enclosure.

"So, where are you going after this, Hazel?" the girl asked.

"Fastest way to somewhere cooler, I guess." Hazel responded.

"I understand. North is cooler, that I know." Hazel nodded, wondering where this was going, as it was written all over Sacha's face that she working up to something. "Maybe we travel together. I've been training some time now, alone, and maybe it's time I train with a companion...?" Hazel stopped in her tracks, looking a little surprised.

"You want to travel with me?" Hazel asked, trying to clarify if she understood Sacha correctly.

"Yes. I can tell you are a fresh new trainer. I have experience. I would be happy to help you."


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: Okay, out of the running for a while, but not dead, I promise you. With preliminary events out of the way, and a little experience under Hazel's belt, I think it's high time to kick things up a notch. Not that I won't still find time to spend on the little things. Oh, and I had to do a little research, so when it comes up, just remember that the word "fetlock" is another word for a horse's ankle.

Hazel Dayberry and Sacha Popova were an unlikely pair at best. Hazel didn't know what to do with the older trainer; the girl was certainly more experienced, though in terms of personality, Hazel thought herself years ahead of the quirky and excitable teenager. Their first few days together were uncertain, both of them testing the waters of this new "alliance" as Hazel had come to identify it. Sacha seemed friendly enough, but her new _apprentice_ would be lying if she said she was used to hearing that accent, and sometimes a casual turn of phrase on her part left the older girl baffled, though it would soon dissolve into giggles once the expression was explained. And what bemused Hazel was that sometimes – it was nothing to giggle about. It was nearly a week before the beginner was willing to talk about anything more personal, but when the moment came during a walk through one of the several parks in southern Colorado, it was so casual she almost missed it.

"Hazel, my friend," Sacha chose her words carefully before proceeding, "please do not take offense, but you always seem so… practical, and yet your shoes are so colorful. Why is that?"

"What, these?" Hazel remarked, looking down at her shoes: tan with pink shoelaces. "Oh, song reference." She answered simply, leaving it at that. But ever-curious Sacha was interested in hearing more than 'song reference'.

"What song, friend?" she asked with a widening smile.

"…Pink Shoelaces." Hazel finally said, though for the long pause that preceded it, the answer was strangely matter-of-fact. When Sacha hinted with a smile and a short hum, Hazel rocked her head side to side thoughtfully. "Well, my mom has always really enjoyed 50's Rock 'n Roll, so I grew up listening to it. Anyway, there was this song about a guy who wore tan shoes and pink shoelaces… and I guess I wanted to try it out. I got the shoes and laces separately of course." She finished flatly, looking down at her sneakers once more.

"That is wonderful." Sacha replied, her voice full of warmth.

"Wow. Wonderful." Hazel said with a small smile and laugh, swinging her left foot forward. "That's a first." She turned to Sacha, now curious herself. "So… what about you? What keeps you feeling so _wonderful_ all the time?" she asked playfully. To Hazel's surprise, the normally cheerful girl's smile became oh-so-slightly weaker, and she turned her gaze to the dirt road in front of them.

"Well," she started, swallowing and frowning thoughtfully for a moment, before her smile returned full force, "the secret to happiness is looking forward." She said in her most chipper voice. "I heard it said in American song: 'Happiness can't be found looking back.'" She said resolutely with a wide sweep of her arm, indicating the implied vastness of her statement and nodding in a sagely manner. And your famous movie maker, Disney, you know his famous words: 'Keep moving forward.'" She continued, carrying on and now unable to keep the chuckle out of her voice. "And I also hear it said: 'Backwards is no way to go through life.'" After the laughing between them died down, she concluded: "Evidence is all around us… of course, it never hurts to have good friends." With this, she turned back to Hazel, smiling encouragingly.

"So… just curious…" Hazel had started to ask, but had doubts immediately, and struggled to phrase it as gently as possible, "have you made any other friends around here?"

"Mostly acquaintances and opponents, I am afraid." Sacha answered a little sheepishly.

"And what about back home? You said you moved here from Russia, right?"

"You know, it is strange, but mostly acquaintances and opponents there as well. Even a rival, or more appropriately, two."

"Wow, rivals. Sounds like serious business." Hazel remarked, genuinely interested in how someone as peppy as Sacha had something as intense as a rival.

"Certainly serious, they are my brothers after all." That was a show-stopper. Hazel's silence spoke volumes and Sacha cleared her throat and refreshed her smile. "Not all _that_ serious, Hazel. Just typical sibling rivalry. See, I have two older brothers who have already finished their training, competed in tournaments, settled down with families and lives of their own. 'Big shoes to fill', I believe it goes." Hazel shrugged the weight off a bit nervously, choosing to move on to something less touchy. But before she could change the subject, Sacha had stopped, holding Hazel's shoulder to stop her as well. "Look, Ponyta." She whispered excitedly. You still have a third Pokémon to catch, is that not right?"

Hazel was honestly trying to figure out how a Pokémon suddenly became more important than their conversation since they had already passed dozens of other creatures in the park, but she had a feeling that maybe Sacha was steering away from choppy waters herself. Indeed about 50 feet ahead, there was a whole herd of Ponyta and a handful of Rapidash.

"Um… okay…" Hazel replied slowly.

"Don't worry, if nothing else, excellent training." Sacha fired back assuredly.

"What I'd give for your confidence…" Hazel mumbled to herself as she stepped forward. "Well, Benji, let's give this a shot." She spoke up, tossing the Pokéball in front of her, and the little top sprang out, having become a little restless over the past few uneventful days.

"Alright, Hazel." Benji answered, spinning eagerly in place. "A fire-type. That's new…" Most of the horse Pokémon had already run off, but one stayed behind, digging its hooves into the ground expectantly. It was a dark, dark charcoal color, well-built like a small draft-horse, with low-burning blue and green flames. In short, nothing like what she'd seen in the old media.

"A lively one, Hazel, stay sharp." Sacha advised, though there was more enthusiasm in her voice than concern. Hazel nodded silently, calling out the first command:

"Let's start with rapid spin, Benji." And so the Baltoy darted forward, halfway expecting the wild Ponyta to dodge. Instead, Benji was sent tumbling back after the enemy countered with a tackle, nearly trampling it in the process. The fiery horse snorted impatiently, shifting weight from one forefoot to the other, its looking a little sorer for having clashed with the synthetic Pokémon's sturdy body. On the other hand, the blow had left Benji momentarily dazed, and it barely heard Hazel's calls of "Are you okay?" and it managed to nod shakily, its head lolling back and forth for a while longer.

"Hazel, your friend Benji may need rest, see if Dover can help?" Sacha suggested. "Dover is more experienced, may handle opponent better, but he can only fight as well as you tell him to. Focus- and make new plan- quickly."

"Benji, time to come back." Hazel sputtered, holding the Baltoy's Pokéball out suddenly as the Ponyta came charging again. "Take it from here, Dover. Use Confusion- quick." She called out, not wasting a second, and neither did the Drowzee. It acted just in time, pushing the enemy off course, and the horse stumbled, falling over with a strangled whinny, though it was quickly back on all four hooves and the flames on its back and tail flared dangerously. Hazel cringed slightly as the embers flying off of the creature were swept downwind toward her. "Dover, use confusion again… don't get too close." Hazel thought she was being quite considerate, which is why she couldn't help but scoff out loud when the Drowzee rolled its eyes at the command.

The tapir-like creature turned its gaze back to the Ponyta, eyes narrowing and picked it up off the ground, tossing it in an almost careless fashion, and held it down, preventing it from getting back up. Benji's nagging comments about Dover's attitude were hard to ignore at times like this, and Hazel couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed by the Drowzee's behaviour. Dover was caught off guard when he looked at his trainer expecting some level of praise, and instead saw Hazel's eyes averted and a pout on her face. The attack gradually wore off, and the psychic Pokémon sat back, staring at the ground as if lost in thought. "DOVER! LOOK OUT!"

The last thing Dover heard was a pounding of hooves, and the last thing he saw was a flare of blue fire taking up his entire field of vision. Luckily for him, Hazel had called him back without a second to spare.

"B-Benji, let's try and finish this. Confusion!" Hazel said, still shaken up by the close call. The top immediately tossed the creature into a nearby pond, and temporarily stripped of its flames, it staggered out of the water, finally showing signs of exhaustion. It eventually settled into a sitting position, too tired to keep walking, and Hazel felt a twinge of guilt before giving her vacant Pokéball a hefty toss across 30 feet where the defeated Pokémon sat. In no time and without any real struggle, the sphere went still, confirming the capture. "We should get this one to the nearest Pokémon Center, right?"

"That would be ideal." Sacha said smiling and seemingly letting go of a held breath. After a half-mile walk back to the entrance of the park, and a few hours of waiting in the lobby while the Ponyta's injuries was treated, Hazel was able to visit the newest addition to her team. The horse remained seated, only turning its head to look at the two girls as they walked in through the door. Its fetlocks upfront were bandaged to reduce swelling and protect the scratches that had been left behind. Its flames were back, though burning a little lower than before despite the fact that they seemed to intensify slightly when the creature caught sight of Hazel. The Ponyta snorted quietly to itself, looking away. When it laid its head down to rest, Hazel backed up slowly, eventually out of the room, tugging at Sacha's sleeve. Sacha's face had 'puzzled' written all over it, but she listened carefully.

"Um… Sacha… I've been thinking – I think you should take Ponyta."

"What?" Sacha asked – maybe she misunderstood.

"I mean I don't think I should train the Ponyta… I really don't know what to do with a flaming horse, and you seem to really like fire Pokémon. I think it's best for the Ponyta that you take it." Hazel whispered, a certain helplessness in her eyes. She didn't want to hurt the creatures feelings, but this felt like some dirty back alley bargain, trying to dump her new Pokémon on someone else. Sacha could feel the discomfort coming off her new friend in waves, and couldn't help but feel a bit anxious.

"Perhaps… we should be more… official. Simply taking your Pokémon, however charming she is – it does not feel right. I have Pokémon in storage right now, he is terribly shy, but maybe you can make him happy where I failed to. You know, since we're trying to do what's best for Pokémon…" Sacha offered nervously. She was sure the equestrian creature could hear them right through the door.

"A trade?" Hazel asked.

"Yes, a trade my friend." It was only moments before the order was put in to have Sacha's Pokéball delivered with the strange new Pokémon inside, and by the next morning when the discharge papers were ready, it had arrived. Those channels made exclusively for Pokéball transport were something else: one-way wind tunnels that swept the orbs in excess of 100 miles per hour underground to any given Pokémon Center. Of course, intercontinental transport was still years away from becoming a reality, but what progress! Hazel took the Pokéball containing her now generally recovered Ponyta and set it in the small hollow of the scanning platform. Sacha led her over to the machine, giving her a general overview of how it worked. She admitted that the mechanics of it all was beyond her understanding, but she knew enough to get by. With the older girl's Pokéball in place, the machine scanned the two, identified their contents and commenced with switching the owner data and the screen proudly announced: "Thank you for using a Kawashima 7th Series Trade Machine. You, Hazel K. Dayberry, are now the new owner of a Bronzor, PRA # 365AA9. You, Sacha Vasil'yevna Popova, are now the new owner of a Ponyta, PRA # 587TL0. Have a wonderful day." The screen then returned to the main menu, and Hazel let go of a held breath, looking at Sacha who tried to smile comfortingly.

"Do not worry, Hazel. I will take excellent care of dear Ponyta. You mind if I give her a name?"

"No, no, g-go right on ahead." Hazel answered unsteadily.

"I think I will name her Raisa. I think it is a pretty name and suits her." Sacha said brightly, trying to cheer up her friend. "And what will you name little Bronzor?"

"I'll… I'll call him… I'll look at him first." Hazel decided, laughing nervously. She honestly didn't even know what a Bronzor looked like. She flipped the Pokéball lightly in the air and watched what emerged with mild curiosity. It was almost disk-like and all circles, set up like… well, actually the general shape of a man whole cover came to mind, but she would keep that first impression to herself. At first it appeared blank-faced, its eyes wide and expressionless, but suddenly it looked afraid and almost vanished into thin air, disappearing behind the nearest object, which for it was a small garbage can.

"Yes, it is very shy." Sacha explained awkwardly, a half-way smile falling off her face as she tried to appear optimistic, but pity was about the only thing they could feel at the moment as the trash bin started to rattle. Hazel shook her head sympathetically, crouching and calling out:

"Uh, hey, Basque, can you come over here? Yeah, Basque, that's gonna be your name, okay?" A small smile came to her face as the thing peeked around the curve of its hiding place, ringing slightly as it bumped against the tin object. "Come here Basque." She repeated, attempting to sound gentle. Slowly but surely it ventured out into the open, levitating closer to inspect the stranger. The taller female it recognized, but her almost overbearing happiness and intimacy was more than the Pokémon could handle. This one on the other hand might be a little more manageable. "We're going to go the bus stop Basque. Do you want to be in your Pokéball or-" before she could finish the sentence, it bumped its face lightly against the Pokéball she was holding and disappeared inside it. "Well, that answers that question." Hazel said lightly, standing back up from her kneeling position. "Let's get going, I guess." She finished, looking with suppressed guilt at the Pokéball Sacha was attaching to the strap on her shoulder, just below Kliment's and Borya's.

They caught a quick bite on the way before reaching the bus stop, and tried to put the last two day's awkwardness behind them, eating their sandwiches in silence. When bus 484 pulled up, right on schedule, they stood from the bench to step in. Before they could however, someone stepped out. It was a young man, couldn't be a day over 13, with rather tan skin and longish black hair. He dressed in a loose tank top and cut off jeans, with a simple walking stick held at his side. While his face remained unreadable, his black eyes fell on them for three seemingly eternal seconds before he moved on, walking around the bus stop and down the street.

"Do you know him by any chance?" Hazel asked.

"No, I thought maybe he recognized you…"


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: Sheesh, I know I keep saying I'm sorry for the wait, and I say I'll be snappy about it in the future and get motivated – promises, promises… but it's nice to be typing this again, I missed Hazel and Sacha, and I hope you're looking forward to seeing them too. Notes: I kinda skipped mentioning Mud Slap as a technique Benji learned, sorry about that… and it also occurs to me that I haven't mentioned the time of year… It's late Summer, early Autumn – somewhere in early to mid-September.

"Good morning Mom." Hazel said a little sleepily as she waved to the image of her mother on the screen. The woman smiled back with bright eyes, thrilled to hear from her daughter after a few days of no news. It had become a pattern; at first Hazel had checked in with her parents every day, then only every other day, and eventually it became common to not hear from her for two or three days. It worried the woman, naturally, but she thought back to her two sons, and how they would sometimes go weeks without checking in back home – it helped her get through this stage.

"Good morning, sweetie. How's your training going?" she asked. Hazel's smile grew a little; training was… well, it was going. She had been busy enough with Benji and Dover, and Basque was slowly (very slowly) warming up to the idea of spending time outside the Pokéball, though even after a couple weeks, battle was still something that Hazel was unsure about.

"Training's going just fine." The girl answered, though her tired expression betrayed her, and her mother sighed, her smile and tapering eyebrows contradicting one another as she shook her head.

"Remember not to overdo it." She warned her daughter gently. "Oh, your father and I were wondering: have you made any friends?" Hazel's eyes went wide and her mouth sank to the bottom of her face at that question. Had she really not introduced Sacha yet? Hazel's mother watched the screen intently as her daughter looked somewhat panicked and confused and the girl's eyes darted to the left and she held up a hand in the "one-minute" gesture.

Hazel cleared her throat as she approached Sacha who was reading over some pamphlets in the corner. Sacha had tried to be polite and not intrude on her new friend's personal conversations, a lesson she likely learned from being too interested in strangers' personal conversations. Thus she was a little surprised when Hazel approached her and said in a confidential murmur: "Um, Sacha, I can't believe I forgot this, but you haven't really met my parents yet, and I just realized this when they asked if I made any friends and…" she trailed off, muttering something or another but the brunette beamed with a smile and guided the mumbling 10-year-old back to the computer screen.

"Hi, Mom, this is Sasha." Hazel spoke up a little awkwardly, having forced herself to stop babbling from the lost line of conversation. "We've been traveling together for a while now." She was met with a mixed expression – something between amusement and skepticism, and the slightest hint of exasperation.

"I get the feeling that 'a while' means you forgot to tell me you had a friend." The mother said, a knowing smile growing on her face. Hazel could only answer with a nod, a sheepish smile and raised eyebrows. "Well, it's nice to meet you Sasha."

"It's nice to meet you too, Ms. Dayberry." Sacha replied, smiling. The mother's smile shrank a moment with bemusement at the accent, but she shrugged it off in an instant. "Hazel is doing very well as a trainer, I'm glad to have met her." Hazel's smile is now frozen in growing anxiety. _Okay, Sasha, I think you've made your point, you can stop now. Stop before you make it sound like you're my lady-friend or something._ She thought to herself helplessly as she watched her mother's expression change from politely cheerful to slightly confused, but still trying to look happy.

"Okay, Mom, it was great talking to you, okay, tell Dad I said hi, I love you guys, bye-bye!" Hazel said quickly, and barely waited for a "good-bye" from the other end before ending the video session. She turned in the seat to her left where Sacha seemed perfectly mystified, the nervous expression still plastered on her face. "Well, that was a little more awkward than I thought it would be." She said, the smile slowly falling into a neutral line.

"Did I say something wrong?" Sacha asked, looking a little worried.

"Hard to say…" Hazel said, staring off into space, as she tried to think of a way to explain just why Sacha's "I'm glad to have met her" might have come across the wrong way. But everything that came to mind the 10-year-old girl couldn't bring herself to say – they just sounded rude. "Well, I just realized how hungry I am; let's… let's go get breakfast."

It took a few hours, and the passing of lunchtime for the unease of that morning phone call to wear off, but bit by bit, Hazel became preoccupied with something else, something that had been on her mind ever since she met Sacha.

"Hey, Sasha, how do you know when you've made real progress – as a trainer, I mean?" she asked, looking to her right as they sat on the driver side of a bus bound for Denver.

"Well," Sacha began, "some compete for badges in the gyms. That's certainly a milestone." Hazel nodded silently, yes, she had heard of that both in the old media, and news when new gym leaders were appointed. It happened every year or so throughout her childhood, as new blood was introduced and old gym leaders decided to retire. She never paid it much mind; it was just something the anchorman talked about for 45 seconds as her parents watched the news in the background and she colored pages of coloring books or did her homework.

"That's true… but am I ready for a gym battle?" the younger trainer thought aloud, looking at her pockets – only three of six were filled, and one of them was so new and shy, it hadn't even battled – Basque certainly wasn't going to be fighting a gym leader's Pokémon anytime soon.

"Well, there is a sequence to these things." Sacha offered comfortingly. "Gym leaders are ranked by the number and strength of their Pokémon, some leaders will be easier to fight than others." As she continued, her smile grew. "In fact, there is a gym leader, right here in Colorado."

Hazel couldn't help but stiffen at the news – she just got through saying she wasn't sure she was ready – and there's one of these strange and uncommonly talented trainers so close? She didn't think she could handle watching her Pokémon get thrashed. Meanwhile, Sacha had brought her backpack in front of her, pulling from it a handful of pamphlets. _So she's been collecting all those?_ Hazel wondered, but kept it to herself. Finally, the taller girl summoned a single leaflet, putting the rest away.

"Here we are, Hazel. American Southwest Regional League Gym Leaders." She flipped it open. "Ranked 5th out of 5 is Jilian Orrel of Boulder, Colorado. She specializes in Pokémon of the Rock-type and has three with which she battles challengers. They change each month, but eh… oh, this month she's using her Lairon, Tirtouga and Sudowoodo." Sacha said with a nod and an assuring smile.

Hazel perked up at the familiar Pokémon's name. "Hey, I've seen a Sudowoodo before… that was a rock-type?" She went from engaged to lost, causing Sacha to chuckle.

"Boulder, then?" Sacha asked encouragingly.

"First Denver, then training (a whole lot of training), check with Benji and Dover… and THEN – Boulder." Hazel said conservatively, scowling a bit when Sacha chuckled once again.

2 weeks and countless battles, breaks and phone call updates later, Hazel and Sacha were done training in Denver and were on their way to The Centennial State's Pokémon Gym. It was an eventful two weeks: Basque had surprised them when it popped out of its Pokéball to try and fight a wild Pokémon, but ultimately panicked when Hazel scrambled for information on what a Bronzor's attacks were; Sacha's new Ponyta had seen progress in training, but Sacha winced with a half-smile every time Raisa won, as when she wasn't unleashing a flashy attack, she would flick her tail dismissively, and Sacha could swear that the little horse would cast a glance at Hazel before cantering back to the Russian trainer with a slightly bored expression; Benji and Dover still bickered often, but much to Hazel's surprise, they managed to work together when a Furret and Linoon teamed up against her. Ultimately, Hazel and her Pokémon's hard work had yielded two new attacks, Rock Tomb for Benji and Headbutt for Dover. They had learned so much in such a short amount of time, and Hazel was actually a little excited. Maybe they could pull this off!

The auburn-haired girl had decided that while it was no Columbus, Ohio, Boulder, Colorado was pretty cool. She was grateful to see something besides highland desert after the month or so of training in the Southwest, and even the Rocky Mountains seemed different though it wasn't her first time seeing it. They glanced at the Pearl Street Mall, and promptly decided that if Hazel won her first gym battle – then she'll have earned that indulgence.

"It says that Ms. Orrel's gym is open Monday – Thursday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.." Sacha informed her friend as she consulted the pamphlet once more. They had stepped off the bus to find Downtown Boulder sparkling in the night, so they obviously wouldn't be challenging the resident Gym Leader today. "Perhaps we should be looking for a hotel?"

"Yeah, sounds like it." Hazel replied looking around, finally settling her gaze on a tourist directory.

The next morning, she called home, getting a message this time. "Hm… that's weird." Hazel murmured, but she left a message saying hello and that she was in Boulder, Colorado, preparing for a gym battle. "I'll tell you all about it when I get back to the hotel, okay?" She finished, hoping maybe that one of her parents might pop in and, hearing her voice, turn the screen on and hurriedly say "I'm here, I'm here, what's up?". Instead, she paused a moment, and finally ended the session. "Guess they already left for work…"

It was 9:30 a.m. on a Wednesday morning, and Hazel stood in front of the gym, looking it up and down. It was a modest size building from what she could tell, couldn't be over 15 feet tall, and was about 30 feet wide. And yet, she was already having second-thoughts about walking inside. It wasn't the building intimidated her, certainly not; no, it was the implications of what she was about to do. She jolted at the sound of Sacha's voice, when the taller girl spoke up beside her.

"Hazel, what is wrong? We set up the appointment a week ago, and you were feeling pretty good about it then, were you not?" Hazel looked straight ahead, afraid of what her face might look like if she turned to face the older trainer.

"What if I lose?" She asked, her brows furrowing and her lips curving into a frown at the thought. "Benji and Dover could get hurt… and we won't have anything to show for it."

Sacha wasn't sure what to say. Honestly, the odds were not in Hazel's favor. She remembered last year's statistics posted clearly in a beginner's pamphlet that she'd been flipping through back in January, "68% of trainers lose their first gym battle, mostly due to a lack of preparation and not knowing what to expect." In fact, she had lost her first gym battle back in Russia, but none of this was going to help Hazel's confidence – something that was half the battle in some cases. Psychic Pokémon weren't weak against rock types, but they weren't especially effective against them either.

"You have trained hard, and you don't have a type advantage working against you. Just do your best." Sacha answered, trying to sound encouraging. "The rules say I am not allowed to give you advice during battle, but if there's anything you need to know before you walk in…?"

Hazel merely slumped her shoulders before straightening up a bit and walking inside; it was strange, the first time in weeks that she'd gone anywhere without Sacha besides the restroom. She walked up to the receptionist who was only 5 feet away by the time she closed the heavily tinted glass door behind her.

"I'm here to challenge the gym leader…" Hazel said quietly when the young lady behind the desk looked up at her from her computer screen. Hazel was sure this young woman was a teenager, she couldn't have been older than 17 – she had dark brown hair dressed in loose curls that hung down in front of her shoulders and a fair complexion, but apparently gyms didn't mandate formal wear… at least in Colorado, as the girl was sporting a simple loose short-sleeve and blue jeans.

"I'm guessing you're the 9:30?" she asked, her voice fairly casual, and Hazel nodded. "First-timer?" Hazel nodded again. "Jilian gets that a lot given her rank, so just don't point it out and you two will get along just fine." Hazel hadn't stopped nodding. "And relax; kids do this for fun, leave 'serious' to the gym leaders."


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Haha, well, here we are again. I'm trying to keep things rolling, but life and other projects can be very distracting. But it could be worse, I could go over a year without updating… oh wait, I've done that. Luckily not with this story. XD As those of you who read the previous chapter know, we're in for a gym battle. Fair warning, I have very little experience with battle scenes, and it will probably sound either melodramatic, cut-and-dry or some awkward alternating combination of the two. But only probably – wish me luck!

As Hazel walked around the counter to the door on the left, she wondered what Jilian Orrel, the Gym Leader of Boulder City, might be like. Pictures started to take shape in her head of gym leaders from the old media, and were quickly pushed aside. People didn't dress or wear their hair like that in real life. But what would a real-life gym leader look like? Would she be more business-like, wearing a suit, even? If the secretary was anything to go by, she might be dressed more casually. Would she be as friendly as the woman at the counter, or more intimidating? It took another moment yet for the girl to realize that as she stood there, pondering these things, her hand hovered over the door handle, and that she had yet to even enter the gym.

Sacha had followed in at a safe distance, waving mildly at the young woman at the counter. She knew better than to offer Hazel help during the battle, but it still felt a little awkward following someone else into a gym. After all, her five years of training had been lonely ones; she never had to wonder whether or not she'd be welcomed as a spectator to a friend's battle. As they passed through the door and into the official arena, Sacha smiled, impressed by the theme and the scale they managed to fit into a relatively small building. Hazel however, was too nervous to be impressed. She cast a glance around the room, and as she thought about it, it did remind her vaguely of the old cartoon. There was an arena with rocks, possibly real, possibly not, planted all around, though the walls were covered by stone that reached all the way to the ceiling. It was… like a canyon, and it made Hazel feel very trapped.

At the other end of the long room was a young woman. She stood at least 5½ feet, with a pale complexion, dark eyes and slightly feathered black hair that didn't quite touch her shoulders. While her cream-colored blouse and black slacks seemed fairly relaxed, her body language told a different story. Her arms were crossed, her hip leaned slightly to the left and her right foot could just barely be seen tapping expectantly, though not too quickly.

"The 9:30, I presume? Your name is Hazel Dayberry, correct?" She called out, to which Hazel nodded promptly.

"Yes, ma'am." Hazel replied, perhaps a little too loudly, her left eye twitching at the echoes that bounced off the walls. Hazel's small smile stretched as she grew more nervous – she thought she could make out a quirked eyebrow from the figure 40-50 feet away. _Well, 9:35… better late than never._ The gym leader thought to herself, the raised eyebrow was actually in response to that "ma'am" bit. _I don't look that old, do I?_ Eventually the lady sighed quietly to herself. _Poor rookie, almost wish I could go easy on her. Of course, that's not an option._

"Well, Miss Dayberry, welcome to the Boulder City Gym of the American Southwest Regional League. My name is Jilian Orrel, and today, you'll be battling to win a Canyon badge. Understood?" Hazel grimaced at the extremely short pleasantries, but nodded hastily, and started to reach for her Pokéball. "Referee, we're ready." She froze, following Jilian's gaze which had swept to her right, and there on Hazel's left, against the wall, a man had "appeared" and nodded to both of them.

"Alright then, it's Gym Leader Jilian Orrel vs. Trainer Hazel Dayberry. Let the match begin." Hazel's eyes snapped back to the young woman and as she prepared to call out her Pokémon, Ms. Orrel seemed to almost hurriedly toss out her Pokéball, and after the momentary flash and assembly of information, the creature had appeared.

"Miss Dayberry, meet Lawrence, my Lairon. And I'm just saying, for future reference: regulation states that the Gym Leader's Pokémon must be selected and called before the challenger may summon their own Pokémon."

"Right; sorry, Ms. Orrel." Hazel called back, though her voice seemed weaker than it should have been. _That was embarrassing._ She mused resignedly, but knowing it was too late to do anything about it, she tried to move on. "Alright then, let's go Benji." She held out the Pokéball, and it opened, revealing the Baltoy, who seemed a little restless for some reason.

"A psychic type, interesting choice..." Jilian said more to herself than to the trainer who had come to her gym. "Lawrence, start with a Tackle." The armored little quadruped broke into a run, looking a little sluggish at first, but was gaining speed. Hazel tried to think of something to both damage the Lairon and protect her Baltoy.

"Benji, Rapid Spin in place, try to deflect it." Though she meant to project her voice calmly, it didn't come out as naturally as she had hoped, straining a little, and distracting the little top for a moment. Nevertheless, it began rotating as fast as it could, and by the time the steel-plated Pokémon took its final lunge into its enemy, it was indeed swept aside, but only by a modest degree, with little Benji wobbling and shuddering from the impact. Hazel cringed, realizing that the measure had ultimately failed to protect her partner.

Sacha looked worried as well – keeping her advice to herself was becoming more difficult by the minute. _Ouch. That might have been much more effective my friend, if you had Benji spin in place with its head angled __against__ little Lawrence._ With little time wasted, Jilian moved on to her next command.

"Miss Dayberry, you may want to cover your ears for this next one. Use Metal Sound, Lawrence." She nearly shouted, and Hazel clapped her hands over her ears as the Lairon let loose a horrible screech that sounded like bad feedback from a microphone… ten-fold. Through her squinted eyes she could make out Benji rattling under the sound waves as they resonated between the walls of the gym, seeming to intensify. Finally the noise died down, and Benji wobbled and leaned from side to side before shaking its head and trying to refocus.

"Benji? Benji, can you hear me?" Hazel asked, relieved when the Baltoy spun around and nodded before turning to face the enemy again.

"I'm fine, Hazel, but I'd feel better if we came up with a plan." Hazel felt a pang of guilt at those words, and she thought she heard a hint of desperation.

"Let's finish this, Lawrence, use Iron Head." Not two seconds after Jilian gave the order, the creature was charging once again, but this time Hazel was ready.

"Take it off course with Confusion, Benji." The top settled into position, starting to lift the armor-plated Pokémon, but ducked away when inertia prevailed, sending the Lairon flying at Benji's head. The opponent rolled instead, nearly into Hazel's leg, causing her to yelp and jump out of the way. It crashed into the wall behind her, but within moments had gotten back on its feet only staggering a step or two before regaining composure and retaking its battle stance with a disgruntled growl. Hazel turned back alarmed to her Baltoy, who immediately piped up:

"I'm sorry, Hazel; he was heavier than I thought." The girl stifled a groan of dismay, afraid to look at Gym Leader's reaction to all of this. Contrary to her fears, Jilian appeared somewhere between amused and sympathetic.

"Well, Lawrence, let's try this one more time." She said, her right elbow resting on the left hand, while the right hand masked a subdued smile. "Use Iron Head."

"B-Benji, try combining Rapid Spin in place and Confusion! Remember to time it!" Hazel called out – oh, she hoped this would work. Jilian couldn't stop the curious tilting of her head at the oddly specific and yet patchy command. The little top began spinning furiously and when the Lairon came within a foot of Benji, it plucked him up just barely off the ground, and after a few eye-twisting cycles, the enemy was slingshot into the wall on Hazel's right. Jilian jumped at the sight of the impact, which scattered debris from the rock wall and sent powdered stone spewing from the contact point. When the dust settled, Lairon was leaning to its side, struggling to stand up, but locked its gaze with Jilian who shook her head with a stern look even while there was worry in her eyes. Wordlessly, the animal understood, and laid back down.

"Lawrence is unable to continue. Benji wins." The referee spoke quietly and clearly, followed promptly by the Gym Leader calling back her defeated partner.

"Don't worry Lawrence; I'll get you patched up – just as soon as I finish this fight." The young lady murmured to the Pokéball. She'd be lying if she said there was no spite in those words; she honestly expected to wipe the floor with this kid, but _Miss Dayberry _was not going to make it a painless procedure. "Not bad, Miss Dayberry, but let's see how your Pokémon measure up against my Tirtouga, Henry." She said loud and clear before tossing out the Pokéball, unleashing a sea-turtle Pokémon. It snapped its pointed beak as a show of aggression, and Hazel took one look at her Baltoy, who was shaking with fatigue, before calling it back.

"It's your turn, Dover." Hazel said, trying to hide the nervousness in her voice; Benji's shivering was contagious. The Drowzee sniffed at the reptilian Pokémon; well, at least he was confident. "Let's start with Headbutt, Dover." Hazel said, eyeing the turtle warily. It didn't look like it would get along well on land, this really shouldn't be that hard. Jilian watched the tapir-like Pokémon charge before casually giving Tirtouga the order:

"Withdraw, Henry." Hazel pouted as the shell was struck and flew a good 20 feet before landing with a slight spin and the turtle's head and limbs emerged unfazed.

"Okay…" Hazel started realizing their attacks would need a little more force if they were going to have any effect. "Try using Confusion." The Drowzee smiled, that should work much better. Jilian's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Henry, Withdraw again." And Dover, like a cat with a mouse, proceeded to toss the shelled Pokémon from wall to wall, scraping past Jilian in some cases, causing Hazel to gape in horror, and not just because the Gym Leader looked quite miffed.

"D-Dover! Be careful!" Hazel cried out.

"Henry, I think it's time to use Aqua Jet, combine it with it Rollout." To the Drowzee's shock, the turtle's rotation allowed it break out of his control and in a flurry of mist and lashing streams of water, Dover was bowled over by the enemy. "Henry, close in and Crunch." Jilian followed, giving neither Hazel nor Dover time to recover. The Drowzee scrambled away, wincing and suppressing a shriek of pain when the Tirtouga clamped down the mammalian Pokémon's ear, a lucky miss, considering it was aiming for Dover's head. With a look of pure hatred, the tapir glared straight into the turtle's face from its position of being stepped on while his ear was nearly being ripped off. Hazel was calling out to him, but he wasn't listening; he headbutted the turtle toppling the thing onto its back immediately leaping into a shower of pound attacks before finally using confusion to toss it clear to the other side of the room, forcing Jilian to duck as it flew toward her face. She couldn't help but throw a glare at the Drowzee, then very quickly carried that look up to Hazel who was fumbling with her Pokéball.

"The match is over. Dover wins." The referee called out curtly, catching the signal from the gym leader.

"O-okay, Dover, you need to come back now." Hazel stammered, finally getting a response from the Drowzee, though it was far from the one she expected. It hissed at her warningly, and from the other side of the room, they both heard a scoffing sound.

"Pardon my frankness, Miss Dayberry, but your Drowzee is… very poorly trained. Since you seem unable to reign in your own Pokémon, allow me to render him more manageable." These last words were accompanied by a stern look and a final Pokéball. "Let's settle this, Bartholomew." Hazel's eyes were trained on the creature that stepped forward after forming. She remembered that Sudowoodo was a Pokémon that was described as one Jilian would use that month, but she didn't recall Balmorhea looking so… intimidating. This rock-type tree-shaped Pokémon was an entirely different animal than the one she met before. This one didn't smile at all, in fact, it looked downright dangerous. The tree merely scoffed at Dover.

"Come on, Jilian. Let's teach this punk some respect." It growled with a gravelly voice. Hazel frowned at that; no, nothing like Balmorhea.

"Dover, be careful. Use confusion, and stay away from that guy." Hazel whined.

"Keeping a distance won't help you." Jilian cast her voice across the arena, her arms crossed; Hazel and her Pokémon had officially made the young woman angry. "Bartholomew, use Rock Throw." The Sudowoodo swiped at a tall boulder at its side, sending stones flying at the Drowzee. Dover tried shielding his head, but it stung all the same. He heard a distinct "Low Kick!", but the next thing he saw was the Sudowoodo's foot in his face. As he tumbled backward, and flattened, clinging his muzzle in pain, he began to reconsider Hazel's offer to call him back. The girl in the meantime winced in shock and fear at the cracking sound that reached her ears when the enemy planted its kick through the frail shield of her Drowzee's forelimbs.

Sacha continued biting her lip to keep from shouting out advice, but it was becoming painful to watch.

"You know, you can advise her to forfeit." A voice muttered over her right shoulder. Sacha's eyes darted to the young man from the bus stop. "There's no way she's going to win this, why let her Pokémon suffer any further? She needs more training." Sacha wanted to know who this boy was, and why she seemed so interested in Hazel, but by the time she'd turned to face him, he was already walking out the door.

"Dover is unable to battle. Bartholomew is the winner." Sacha's head whipped back, and indeed the Drowzee had been soundly beaten. Guiltily, Hazel held out the Pokéball to call him back.

"Sorry, Dover. I'll get you to the treatment center as soon as I can, okay?"

"Why don't you forfeit and take him to the hospital now?" Jilian instantly had Hazel's attention; "Because if that Drowzee of yours is the strongest you have to offer, it makes no sense to continue. It's embarrassing for the humans, and cruel to the Pokémon." Miserably, Hazel began to consider the option, as she had no intention of using Basque, the poor thing would be simply destroyed by this opponent. Just as she was getting ready to agree to the proposition, she heard that familiar click, and heard that familiar voice.

"Have you forgotten about me, Hazel?" Benji asked, spinning a few times. "Dover's stubbornness certainly has its advantages, but it wounds me to think that you would consider _him_ the best you have to offer." It rattled slightly, obviously still fatigued, but the girl couldn't help but smile, even as she held the side of her face with a look of regret.

"You really want to do this, Benji?" She asked.

"Absolutely." The top strengthened its resolve with a firm nod.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Oh, how embarrassing; left you guys hanging in the climax of a gym battle for how long? I shudder to think. Honestly, I still only have a most basic understanding of how this final match will play out, but I think we all need the closure, so here goes! I owe you a quick recap, instead of making you go back and review the last chapter: Hazel enters the Boulder City Gym, up against Leader Jilian Orrel. The first two matches out of three manage to thoroughly piss off the gym leader, so now it's down to her best, and Hazel's paying in spades for Dover's "misconduct". It's down to one on one: Bartholomew, a fierce and fired up Sudowoodo vs. Benji, still fatigued from its battle with a Lairon. Things don't look good for them, but it won't stop the little Baltoy from trying!

The warm moment over, Hazel looked reluctantly to the ominous pair on the other side of the arena. If Ms. Orrel had been showing any mercy before, it was gone now; her stare was just as narrow and unforgiving as that of her Pokémon… and yet, oddly, they remained motionless, and Hazel realized with a lurching feeling that, for reasons unknown, they were waiting for their opponent to make the first move.

"…" Hazel found herself gripped in… genuine fear; she had the haunting sensation that if she gave the wrong command, it would have dreadful consequences for Benji. She shook the image of Dover's beating from her head, trying to gather her senses and decide on a safe strategy for her partner. Finally, she rallied the conviction to call out: "Benji, can you use Rapid Spin?"

"Of course." It answered neutrally, finally recovering somewhat from its partner's infectious paralysis.

"Then try that, but don't approach him directly." Hazel replied, gaining a little more composure as she looked again to the Sudowoodo ahead.

"Swing around?" the Baltoy asked quietly, mild confusion in its voice.

"Swing around." Hazel echoed with a nod, her eyes not leaving the tree-like creature that narrowed its gaze in response. The top cocked its head to the side for just an instant, before it darted forward, spinning at a blurring speed. Within a few feet of the Sudowoodo, it twisted to the right and swiveled behind the enemy, closing in just as the trunk and legs turned about to face it.

"Wood Hammer, Bartholomew." Jilian called out promptly now that the foe was in range. Benji jolted off the ground with a frightened yelp, bobbling away as it barely managed to avoid a furious backhanded swipe directed at its spot on the ground. "Now, Rock Throw."

"Benji, keep moving, and keep up the Rapid Spin!" Hazel tried not to yell, but this all started to move so fast, and he felt so far away, skittering about on the other side of the gym – just to keep out of harm's way. The little top turned sharply and approached again, this time from the creature's left, but Hazel inwardly gasped as she saw the arboreal enemy lifting its foot, presumably to stomp its diminutive opponent. "Benji, back off!" At the last second, the Baltoy whirled away, making its way back toward Hazel, chased by the call and the subsequent onslaught of another Rock Throw. "Benji, I know you have a lot to think about right now," Hazel started nervously, eyeing the flying shards of stone, "but try to focus and use Confusion."

Well, Benji made a valiant effort, starting to lift the Sudowoodo and toss it, but that fatigue that lingered before had finally begun to catch up with him, and defeated, Benji dropped it, shuddering as it struggled to stay upright. Hazel was horrified, and to make matters worse, Jilian looked particularly triumphant.

"Thank you, Miss Dayberry, I've been waiting for that move." She said serenely and then issued a command that – had it a sliver of more force – it would have struck the challengers dead: "Use Mimic." Hazel was no professor, but she didn't have to be to understand what that technique would do, and knowing what would inevitably come next, she shouted the only command she could think of.

"B-Benji! Harden!" All she could do at this point was hope that Benji would hold together, because if what Bartholomew did to Dover was any indication, her partner was in for a world of hurt. But as she watched Benji flying from wall to wall, she suddenly remembered something: it was no Rollout, but it should have the same effect.

"Benji, use Rapid Spin - clockwise!" She shouted when she saw Benji heading in a certain direction…

Barely hearing the command, Benji replied nonetheless, cautiously trusting that its human had some kind of plan. Hazel's eyes glowed when things seemed to be going the way she had anticipated, and Jilian and Sacha were mystified; what did she look so happy about? Hazel gave it a moment's estimate before adding another command: "Now Benji, tip a quarter-turn down!" Benji quickly caught on, feeling quite inspired by Hazel's sudden burst of confidence; Jilian understood now as well, and tried calling out to the Sudowoodo, to tell it to dodge the attack, but between the Rapid Spin and momentary shock, there was no time react. With a definitive cracking sound, Benji slammed into the opponent's body, just below the face, and after a few seconds of incredulous silence and stillness, the stone-tree fell flat on its back with a resolute thud. Benji feebly rolled away teetering as it brought itself upright, a ribbon-like arm supporting itself on the felled enemy. For a moment, Jilian looked as though she was the one who had suddenly developed a gaping hole in her throat, but with a hard swallow, she nodded, calling back her last Pokémon for the match, barely registering the referee's passive announcement. Gazing at the Pokéball, she was brought back to reality by an excited squeal, and looked up to see Miss Dayberry running across the arena at a full gallop and without stopping, scooped up a tired but happy-looking Baltoy, trotting forward until she stopped a few feet away from the gym leader. Jilian sighed, feeling she should have been angry, and she was, but it was hard to stay bitter when seeing someone so happy with their Pokémon – she remembered when it was fun to raise Pokémon…

The young woman was just about to approach the challenger when the Pokémon in her arms started shaking violently. At first the humans in the room looked alarmed, fearing that something was dreadfully wrong with it, but at least three of the four soon calmed down, seeing the top change in coloration from its normal tan to charcoal black and accents of white. It became so heavy that Hazel could no longer carry it and dropped it as gently as she could, backing away as it grew bigger and bigger – in fact almost as tall as her – with large shallow domes appearing all around its head that filled in with a desaturated mid-value pink. The ribbon-like arms were disappearing, shrinking toward the body until finally stopping at peg-like shapes with bulbous shoulders. Legs had developed, though they proved just has stubby as the new arms, and a new pattern appeared on its torso. Hovering, the newly formed Benji rounded about to face Hazel, and when it spoke, its voice was different, a little deeper, and slightly more hollow-sounding.

"Hazel, isn't this wonderful!" It exclaimed, leaning towards her for a hug, and then realizing its arms were too short, settled for pressing their foreheads together. It was all the girl could do to stifle a squeak of fright.

"Wonderful, indeed, little Benji… though, haha, you are not so little anymore." Sacha replied jovially. Hazel looked on in wonderment as what was once her Baltoy spun wildly in happy circles. "Hazel, your dear Benji has evolved into Claydol, you should be thrilled." Sacha said, shaking the younger trainer's shoulder, her voice full of encouragement. Jilian took this time to recover, and stepped forward to get Hazel's attention.

"Well, Miss Dayberry, what you lack in professionalism, I suppose you make up for in enthusiasm." She said with a slightly sad smile.

"Um… I'm sorry about… your Pokémon. T-They're going to be alright, aren't they?" the girl asked, now fully realizing just how brutal the battle had been.

"This is the nature of Gym Battles, Miss Dayberry, it's nothing new to them." The gym leader responded, her eyes momentarily downcast. "Still, process aside, the result is a victory for the challenger. Before we take our Pokémon in for treatment however, it is procedure to present you with your badge and TM. This is the Canyon badge and TM-124. Keep training… why don't you follow me, the nearest Pokémon Treatment Center is within walking distance, we both have business there, after all."

Two-and-a-half hours later, they were waiting in the Pokémon Center. Hazel had already called her parents and they were home this time around, though they both looked quite weary.

"_Mom… Dad… everything okay? You guys look dead tired."_

"_Oh, it was just a long day, honey." Her father said, smiling. "Now, you said you were at a gym today? Sounds like exciting stuff. How'd you do?"_

She told them about the difficult battle, and that she was waiting to see how Dover and Benji were doing; she went on to explain that Benji had evolved, though now he would take some getting used to. And for a while, everything seemed back to normal, though Hazel couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't quite right. Good-nights and I-love-yous were exchanged and the screen went black, leaving Hazel alone with her thoughts. Sacha had gone down the street to pick up some lunch for them, even offering to get a meal for Jilian, who politely declined. Benji was discharged well before Dover, and as the two waited for their third member of the team, Hazel wondered how she was going to get along with this new Benji. Just when she was getting used to it, it became completely different.

"Don't worry, Hazel, I haven't changed." She looked up to the Pokémon on her left, who just that morning, fit in her arms like a fair-sized stuffed animal, and now, she probably couldn't get it off the ground without a dolly… or a forklift. "It's still me." It reiterated, trying to explain that its personality was the same as always, and she nodded with a resigned shrug. It was as friendly as ever, it's just the mood completely changes when the 1-2 foot "doll" turns into a 5 foot "golem". She reconsidered her train of thought, catching the sensation that it was reading her mind…

"Back with food, my friends." Sacha piped up softly, as she poked her head and arms through the door, carrying a few large paper bags.

"That's right, the Pokémon must be getting hungry too." Hazel murmured. It was then that a nurse came out from the ICU, calling for Dover's trainer.

"Hazel Dayberry?" a middle-aged man called into the waiting room.

"That's me. How's Dover?"

"He's all patched up," He answered with a reassuring smile. "and ready for visitors." At this point, he also looked to the gym leader. "Ms. Orrel: Lawrence, Henry and Bartholomew are also well on their way to recovery, but Henry seems a little disoriented and we're going to keep an eye on Bart, okay?" Jilian nodded solemnly. "You can visit them right now, and they'll likely be discharged by tomorrow. We're just making sure." He paused, looking between them before he shook his head with a sputtering laugh. "That must've been one he~ck of a battle." He caught himself, remembering the 10 year old in the room, and disappeared back behind the double doors.

"Well, I'm going to stay with my Pokémon, and I'll also get started on a formal letter." Jilian declared, standing up from her seat and gathering a few belongings she'd brought with her.

"For what?" Hazel asked, suddenly concerned.

"For the 10:45 and 2:30 I missed today. We'll have to reschedule." She stated flatly looking at the time on her phone. "Well, Ms. Dayberry, take care, and keep training." It took a while for it to sink in, and Hazel had a newfound respect for Gym Leaders and more importantly, their Pokémon – it couldn't be easy, fighting challengers every day…

Hazel stood up as Benji hovered at her side, intent on visiting Dover, but turned confused as she felt a hand on her left shoulder.

"…" Sacha wanted to tell her about the boy who visited during the gym battle, and now was as convenient a time as ever with the waiting room now empty of people, including staff, but looking at the girl's face, Sacha changed her mind. Maybe it was best to wait, and let Hazel spend some quiet time with her friends.


End file.
